Authentic, Really
by Kamukura
Summary: An android is appointed a new name, a new face, and the responsibility of taking care of Kagami Taiga, the person Kuroko Tetsuya left on that fated, cloudless day. Warning: mentioned character death.


A/N:

Robots. Also inspired by HAL the movie but still. _Robots_.

* * *

The water felt so nice. It was so clear and clean, and the small creature swimming closer looked funny. They tried to catch the creature within their hands, but a splash behind them told them they had only grasped water. Trying their best to creep over to where the finned creature escaped to, they stood up and splashed about upstream.

A shout from Master and her friend and they left to creek to Master's side. Master's mobile device buzzed when they arrived next to her. They looked up, down, and around curiously, searching for more objects of interest to learn of. The weather was at its best for the season, allowing almost no clouds to interfere with the bright blue of the sky. Birds chirped in the trees, cicadas buzzed, and insects flew from plants to flowers.

Roaring came from above as they watched Master, and they turned their eyes up to see an plane flying ahead, leaving a trail of white in its path. In the background, they heard Master grumbling to the screen of her phone but it eventually faded away to nothing as the aircraft wavered from side to side, black replacing the white trail.

From their knowledge, aircrafts carrying persons like Master were not supposed to erupt and combust. The noise, even at their distance on the ground, was terrible.

They could not tear their eyes away, absorbing the sight above them. Red filled their vision, and with a last explosion, it dispersed to pieces.

They almost didn't hear the distress from Master, who had dropped her phone with a desperate cry, her emotional fluctuation going wild as she collapsed. When they had hurried to Master's side, she was gripping her wrinkled face tightly, tears spilling through the cracks of her wizened fingers.

What had caused Master to feel such sadness?

* * *

Kuroko has died.

The Kuroko who almost never leaves Kagami's side has died.

Kagami can't laugh.

Can't sleep.

Won't listen.

Won't eat.

Can't cry.

* * *

"Q11, help us save that child."

Q11 was peering down at the unmoving person laid before them among a bed of flowers. The sight of the person, set within the flowers so it looked as if they were in a peaceful sleep, made Master sad knowing someone precious to them was not with them any longer.

"Help us."

Master spoke to Q11 quietly from the other room. She was sitting at a table with a cube in her hands facing Q11 and the bed of flowers. Her voice was firm yet forlorn, already having shed many tears for the loss. If Master wished, they would do anything to relieve her of the current torment plaguing them, if only it would get them to smile again.

They looked back to the person in the room and nodded, though Master could not see it staring down at the cube with writing scrawled across its surface. Master probably sensed their agreement, because she let out a shaky sigh of relief as she wiped a tear silently from her cheek with a dark sleeve.

Q11 would not only do this for Master, but for the "child" who also valued the person laid to rest so deceptively young and in the prime of their youth. The image of them appearing to be in an undisturbed sleep was mesmerising and unforgettable, the lights within the room illuminating the picture with an ethereal glow. It burned into their glassy eyes as they made the decision to heal the "child", overtaking the vision of the destruction of the plane on that fated day.

* * *

I have become human.

I sat in my chair, several wires hooked up to me as I held and worked with the cube in my fleshed covered hands.

The chirping of the birds outside and the sunlight filtering through the spaces of the blinds signaled it was early morning.

A woman knocked open the door in a rush. Her glasses were falling down her nose, breathing deep and harsh from running and blonde hair in disarray.

"Sorry, I'm late, Q11," she apologized breathlessly as she walked in with a flick of her white labcoat.

I continued to work on the cube as she stepped closer inside the room but stopped when she said my android name. "Doctor Alex, I am Kuroko from now on."

"Oh, isn't that right," Doctor Alex agreed as she checked the monitor for his vitals. She turned to me, wiping sweat off her face with a hand. "So, how does it feel to be human?"

"What does 'feel' mean?" I asked, quietly.

"To be able to feel," she replied, as if it was obvious. Doctor Alex raised my arms, carefully taking off a few of the wires. She brought herself close enough that I could see the blue of her irises and the individual blonde eyelashes surrounding them. My appearance, blue hair and matching eyes paired with pale skin, was reflected in her glasses. "Ah, forget I said anything!"

Doctor Alex turned away from me to the open door, and did a little dance. "Okay, it's time to go! Come on." She clapped her hands at me to get a move on.

I sat there, a little confused and overwhelmed by her energy, but complied as she led me away.

Some time later, we were boarding a train. In my seat, I watched the passing green scenery fly by with the cube still in my grasp.

"Ah, that ol' thing is sure brings back memories."

I broke my gaze from the window to see Doctor Alex staring at the object in my hand, and I made a small indignant noise as she took it away to mess with it.

"There was a rumor it could grant wishes, did you know that? Probably not, because I heard it in my college days. Was it the same for you?" she asked. I stared at her, mind blank and unable to come up with an answer. "Oh, I forgot you wouldn't know Kuroko's past, huh?" She sat back down, smiling at her own mistake.

I didn't really get her questions but I liked her enough. We stayed silent until we arrived at a river with a few flat rocks to cross over to a little town. She stopped to apologize, saying she had to meet up with some people she knew and tossed the cube to me.

I read the green side of the cube, finding Doctor Alex had managed to arrange most of it so it was legible.

"'Live with Taiga,'" I read out loud.

She slapped me on the back and looked down at me with a grin. From my earlier sitting positions, I hadn't realized she was so much taller than me, and she had casually slipped me her three sizes conversing on our trip here, all of which were very generous.

"This was the last wish left by Kuroko." Doctor Alex glanced at the writing then to me reassuringly. I nodded in understanding and she left with a smile, waving a hand in farewell.

Making my way across another rock path in another direction, I knocked into a few children playing and running along it in the opposite direction. One of the children's hat fell off and into the river, and I failed to catch it. I noticed the hat was a shade similar to Kagami's hair before it sunk to the bottom.

I arrived at a small quaint day care center. The sign said "Kagami and Kuroko". So, this was the home where Kagami Taiga and I...I mean, Kuroko, had lived together before his death.

Attempting to open the stiff unused wooden door was difficult, but with a hard push, I managed to slip through and close it as gently as I could. The interior was messy and covered with a fine layer of dust, but it looked lived in for the most part. Looking around for any signs of life, a clatter from the interior garden door had me run in a start.

A few papers were left on the floor and the clattering continued to another adjacent room and ended with a firm shut of a door. I followed them until it led to a room filled with various items piled into one large heap. It must have been the place where Kagami hid himself from the rest of the world.

"Kagami-kun?" I quietly addressed the door. "Is that you?"

"Who are you?" a gruff voice asked as the door slid open a fraction.

"I am here from the help center to aide you. May I speak with you?"

Anger filled his voice. "I didn't order a robot to replace Kuroko!" came his reply.

His anger surprised me. "I am only here to help-"

"I don't want a fake. Leave!" he furiously interrupted and slammed the door in my face.

"Do you not like me?" I asked after a moment of stunned silence. Quiet. "Do you wish for me to leave? If so, please sign this."

I placed a paper and pen in front of the door, my cube with the words "cleaning with Kagami" written on it so it wouldn't fly away. The paper was if the person receiving the aide did not want the android look-alike of their deceased loved one, and the lack of answer from Kagami could only have meant one thing.

I curiously looked around the messy room as I waited for Kagami's answer and decided to fulfill Kuroko's wish. I grabbed a rumpled apron and got to work.

Gathering discarded clothes and washing them, air drying sheets, picking up various pairs of basketball shoes and scrubbing them clean and arranging them neatly by on shelves took me nearly the whole day to complete.

By sundown, I was intently focused on organizing Kagami's room when a stack of items on his wardrobe collapsed on me.

"Ow," I muttered as a pointed hard object landed a hit on my head.

Rubbing the pain away, my eye trailed to the things that had fallen. A book of some sort was splayed open and the content caught my interest.

Inside was a collection of images of Kagami by himself, smiling wide and proud, many with him and Kuroko posing together happily, and others with Kuroko alone and sometimes caught off guard but still managing to look expressionless. The cubes made several appearances within the shots. They were a significant part of Kagami's life.

"Kagami-kun?" I looked on, awestruck at the various faces Kagami could make. I had yet to cause a single one of those, besides one of pain.

I looked toward the a fallen cube that had presumably fell along with Kagami's other belongings and resolved to figure out a side. Crawling toward it, I saw it had writing just as mine had, but it was a counterpart to my own.

"Live with Kuroko" the green side said.

"Kagami-kun!" I said the door, excitement trickling into my voice. "I solved it." I brought the cube closer in case Kagami wanted to take a look.

To my surprise, the door did open. A hand quickly reached out, snatched the cube from my outstretched one, and flung it away into a garden fountain with an audible splash. Before I could see Kagami's expression, the door closed again with a bang.

"You're not Kuroko. Go home."

"I know," I sighed at the cruel reminder. The only thing I could do now was obey the cube's wishes if Kagami would not sign the paper.

Another side of my cube said "cooking with Kagami", and I intended to do just that. My helping duties were not over.

After several attempts at frying eggs and some pancakes from the recipes I found on the device Doctor Alex had given me, I placed the finished product before the door. It cost me a few scrapes and several wasted eggs, but it was done. The paper and pen were left untouched, but that was fine, too. It meant I would not be going anywhere until Kagami decided for good if he wanted me gone.

"Kagami-kun, please eat." I quietly said. I expected no answer, and continued. "I will be back for tomorrow. Good night."

I rose and left the shop to the place where Doctor Alex told me to find, a building housing many injured and well-known citizens she took care of.

"Don't worry, they're not all as intimidating as you'd think. Some of them are kind of crazy, but you'll be great friends with them, I know it," Doctor Alex had reassured me with a wink. "If you get lost, just ask anyone where the Teiko Rehabilitation Center is. They'll help you."

Her words only made me more uneasy as I trudged up to the entrance of the traditional mansion.


End file.
